Type-writer.



J. E. MOLLE.

TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION FILED we. a, 1008. nmmwnn D110. 12, 1011.

1,082,038, Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

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' mama/2 J. E. MOLLE.

TYPE WRITER.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. a, 1908. RENEWED DEO.12,1911.

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

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J. B. MOLLB.

TYPE WRITER. APPLICATION FILED AUG.3,1908. RENEWED D110. 12, 1911.

1 ,O82,038, Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JOHN MYOL'LE 01E STURGEHDN BAY, \VISGONSIN.

Application filed August 3, 15M, Serial No. l-flfifiit'.

To ail whom it may concern lie it known that l, JOHN lil. Motion, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sturgeon Bay, in the county oi? Door and State of Wiscons'ui, have invented a new and useful Type-Writer, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in typewriters, and its object is to produce a. typewriter of the kind wherein the line being printed is visible to the operator of the machine.

Since for the sake of compactness of con struction it is customary to provide the type levers each with ..1nore than one series of printing characters, such, for instance, as upp r and lower case characters and, it de sired, with still a third series of characters, it is customary to adjust the paper carriage to or from the pivotal points of the type le- Vers so that one or the other of the printing characters located at dilferent distances from the pivotal points of such type levers shall be brought into operative relation to the papercarrying platen always in the same plane with reference to the axis of the platen.

In accordance with the present invention there are provided means whereby the paper carriage may be adj usted in a vertical plane in order to be brought into proper operative relation to the printing characters located at ditlerent distances froin the pivotal points oi the type levers. All this will be apparent "from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which-- Figure l. is a vertical section taken cenintending from the trout to the .iewriter containing my invena rein. elevation of the same, u'ts broken away. some parts in other p: omitted; Fin". 3 is a 1 Amy in section and partly in to. illustrate the operation ill? the i'illun 'nlcchanism bet ween the fl ll l'ruuu: supporting the s in :l'ull and diiitted line (lit-- ie. op u'irtion; Fig. l is a 3.1011 of the structure mounted upon, elastic the supportior the Specification of Letters Patent.

entire machine.

"tz'ttonl'cd 1) cc. 23, 191.3.

.ttencwcd December 12, 1911. Serial No. 665,378.

At the front of the machiuc there is arranged a bank of keys 3, the slums -'loi which are guided near their upper ends in suitable perforations 5 in a. stepped platform 6 suitably secured to the frame Back. of the bank of keys 3 and platform (3 is arranged the front wall 7 and sides S of a compartment within which the type lovers 9 are normally contained, and this l ypc lever compartment is also suitably supported on the frame 1 The type lever (JOIHPZULIHCHL is open. at the top and also has an arc-shaped opening 10 at. the front so that the type levers, which are themselves arranged in an arc-shaped series, are exposed to view and are readily accessible for cleaning.

The type levers 9 are formed of thin strips bent. at their free ends, as indicated, and there carry type heads 11 which, in the present instance, contain upper and lower case type and also a third character of any desired kind, and in the particular instance shown in Fig, l the type bar head on which the characters are visible contains a capital letter, a small letter and a numeral, but it will be understood that any desired arrangement of the printing, characters may be used. The other ends of the type bars are pivoted at 12 in slots 13 formed on the front edge of an arc-shaped bed or support 14 forming the basket or cradle for the type bars. The type bars are thin and flat and fit snugly. but easily in the slots 13, and in order to re duce friction, the contacting surface of the pivoted end of each type bar may be reduced in extent as by perforations 9" or otherwise. The bed 14; is suitably supported by braces 15 connected to the frame 1 or to parts fast thereon. The front. or free ends ol the type bars or levers are normally supported upon another arc-shaped bed 16 mounted on supports 17 projecting from the braces 15 or parts connected thereto, and this bed 16 is faced by a felt or similar covering 1'?" having a soft surface 18 with which the type bars or levers come into direct contact and which constitutes a noiseless butler for the type bars or levers to strike against when they return to their normal position. The short ends 19 of the type levers are connect ed by links 20 to an angle arm 21 formed on the rear end of a flat bar 22, which latter oxl'ends to near the front end of the machine 'and is there provided with another angle arm or extension 24 through the free end of which passes a right angle bend 25 of the corresponding stem 4 of a key 3.

Certain features of the construction shown a in the drawings are shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent #813570 granted to me on February 27, 1906, and therefore need not be fully shown and described herein.

In order that the paper may be properly supported and a resistant or non-yielding backing may be provided for the paper when the type are brought into operative relation thereto in the usual manner employed in typewriters, there is provided a cylindrical platen 33 which may be of the usual type. This platen is carried upon a carriage for longitudinal movement and is designed to be urged in a longitudinal direction by the usual spring propelling means, which are not shown in the drawings since they form no part of the present invention and may be such as are usually employed in typewriters.

The normal position of the platen is such that it is engaged by the printing characters on the type bars or levers that are nearest the pivotal points of said levers and the plane of engagement is a horiz'ontal plane passing through the axis of the platen, and, of course, the type bars are so arranged that the printing ends thereof are all brought into the same vertical plane when in position to be in operative relation to the platen, Now, in order to bring those characters on the type bars or levers which are more remote from the pivotal points thereof than those which engage the platen when it is in normal position, into operative relation with the platen, the latter is adjusted upward in a vertical plane to the required extent, and the adjustability of the platen in a vertical plane and the means which I have devised for this purpose constitute an important part of my present invention.

The main supporting bar 39 for the carriage extends between two uprights 71 erected on the sides of the main frame 1, near the rear of the same. The bar 39 forms the connecting yoke between the two side arms 72 of a triangular frame consti- 5 tuting the paper carriage support and upon which it is longitudinally movable on-the tracks fast on the bar 39. The two arms 72 extend downward and toward each other and finally merge at a point a little above the 55 top of the frame 1, and below the point where the two side arms merge they are formed with adownwardly-extending foot 73 terminating in a toe 74 extending rearwardly toward the inner face of the back 0 member of the frame 1 for a purpose which will presently appear. Ateachextreme end of the bar 39 beyond'its point of connection with the arms 7 2 it carries a depending yoke 75 in which is journaled a roller 76 hearing i against the corresponding upright 71. Each yoke has side wings 77 embracing the upright 71 and preventing any lateral movement of the y'okeor the bar 39 which carries it. Each arm 7 2, at a point close to where it joins the bar 39, is provided with nuts for the passage of adjusting screws 78, which latter are arranged to bear against the yoke 7 5 and force the roller 7 6' into contact with its corresponding upright 71 so that the entire carriage frame supporting structure may be properly centered in the fixed parts of the framework. It will also be noted that the rollers 76 permit an upand-down travel of the triangular frame and that the wings 77 confine the movement of this frame to a verticalplane so far as the upper end thereof is concerned. The lower end of the triangular frame is provided with a pin 79 extending downward from the foot 73, which pin is engaged on opposite sides by two rollers 80 j ournaled in fixed supporting frames 81 fast on the main frame 1, as best indicated in Fig. 3. The extent of downward movement of the triangular frame is determined by set-screws 82 fast in the main frame 1 near the rear thereof and engaging the toe 74 when the triangular frame is lowered.

For the purpose of vertically adjusting the paper carriage so as to bring the platen in proper relation to the printing characters when it is desired to use those printing characters more remote from the pivotal points of the'type levers orbars than the ones which engage the platen when in its normal position, there is provided the mechanism best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 but which'is also shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Extending through the framework from front to rear and suitably journaled therein is a rock shaft 83 having fixed thereon a rock arm 84 with its free end connected to the stem 4 of a key 3 which will correspond to the sct'of printing characters most remote from the pivotal points of the type levers. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 83 is another rock arm 85 connected to the stem 4 of a key 3 corresponding to the intermediate set of characters on the type levers. The hub of the arm 85 where the lever 83 passes therethrough is adjacent to the hub provided on the arm 84, and in order that these .two parts may be in close relation and yet to reduce the frictional contact between them, they are provided with an interposed washer 86, and a sleeve 87 confines the hub of the arm 85 in place on the shaft 83 but does not interfere with its independent movement around the same. The arm-85 has an extension 88 on the other side of the shaft 83 connected by a knuckle joint 89 to one end of another arm 90 pivotally supported upon a supplemental rock shaft 91, extending from the front to the rear of the machine, parallel with the shaft 83 and like the latter journaled in the front and rear members of the frame 1. The shaft 91 carries a bar 92 parallel and. in contact with the arm 90 and connected thereto by a pin 93 extending through a slot 94 in the said arm 90. A spring 95 engages over the top of both the arm 90 and bar 92 near the free ends thereof, thence around the shaft 91 and up over the end of the bar 92 to the other side of the shaft 91. The function of this spring 95 is to cause the two bars to move in unison, except under extreme conditions of stress which may sometimes occur and which will be referred to later on. Upon the arm 84 there is formed a lug 96 and upon the arm 85 there is formed a lug 97. These two lugs project toward each other and the lug 97 overrides the lug 96 so that when the arm 85 is depressed the lug 97 will engage the lug 96 and cause the arm 84 to also be depressed. This structure is such that the arm 84 may be moved to rock the shaft 83 because of its direct connection thereto, while the arm 85 can only rock the shaft 83 through the contact of the lug 97 with the lug 96 of the arm 84, but the depression of the arm 85 will cause the rocking of the shaft 91, while the depression of the arm 84 will have no effect on this shaft 91.

The rear end of the shaft 83 is provided with a rock arm 98 connected by a link 99 to the triangular frame before referred to,

i the connection being to one of the arms 72 close to the point where it merges into the other arm 72. The shaft 91 carries at its 'rear end an uprightrock arm 100 to which is pivoted a link 101, the free end of which is f'ecessed, as shown, at 102 and which has also provided on it beyond the recess a downwardlyextending lug 103. This link 101 is supported at its recessed portion by a bracket 104 slotted to receive and guide the link, as best shown in Fig. 1, and this bracket is supported by an upright 105 fast on the rear member of the frame 1. The upper end of the upright 105 extends above the bracket 104 and is bent to overhang the link 101 and carries a set-screw 106 which con-fines the link 101 to the slot in the bracket 104 so that it may move longitudi nally in said bracket but cannot escape therefrom. Now, when the rock shaft 91 is appropriately moved the link 101 is caused to move longitudinally. The lug 103 of the recessed portion 102 of this link is brought into operative relation with the toe 74 of the foot 73 of the triangular frame before referred to, and this link 101 is normally urged in a direction to carry the recessed portion 102 into coincidence with the path of the too 74 by means of a spring 107 fast at one end to the link 101 and at the other end to the upright 105.

As before indicated, the normal position of the triangular frame is in the lowermost or depressed posit-ion, and this is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 8. Also, the normal position of the link 101 is with its recessed portion [03 in the path of the toe 74, and this position is also indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6*. Let it be supposed that it is desirable to so elevate the platen that the third or outermost series of printing characters will be brought into operative relation thereto. The proper key is depressed to cause the rock arm 84-v to rock the shaft 83 on its axis. This will, through the link 99, cause the elevation of the triangular frame until the toe T-lis seated in the recess 102 of the link 101. This movement is the greatest vertical movement through which the triangular frame may pass. Suppose, now,

that it is desirable to bring the intermediate set of printing characters into operative relation to the platen, under which conditions the platen is moved vertically to a less extent than under the conditions previously considered. Inthis case the key operating the rock arm 85 is depressed and the latter will engage the *rock arm 84 through the lugs 97 and 90 and rock the shaft 83. But at the same time the downward movement of the rock arm 85 has caused a rocking of the shaft 91 through the intermediate arms 88, 90 and 93 and the link 101 has been drawn to a position, indicated in full lines in Fig. 3, where the lug 103 is in the path of the toe 74. Now, under these conditions the triangular frame can only be raised until ,the toe 74.

engages the lug 103, when further movement in a vertical direction is arrested. This )osition of the parts is shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and when this position is reached the platen has been moved vertically a sufiicient distance to bring the horizontal plate corresponding to the lines of imprints on. the paper into position to receive the impress of the printing characters corresponding to the intermediate line of characters on the type lever heads. Suppose, now, that the triangular frame is in its highestposition and that an attempt be made to depress the reel-1 arm 85 by manipulating its key. Under these conditions the lug 103 is locked behind thetoe 74 and the link 101 cannot be moved. lVith this posi tion of the parts a movement of the rock arm 85 will'sin'iptv cause a yielding of the spring 95 and no parts will be damaged or broken.

In order to, in a measure, counterbalance the weight of the triangular frame and the carriage supported thcrebv, the foot 73 is provided with a recess 108 in which engages the ball end 109 of a rod 110 extending to and having a pivotal support, as indicated at 111, in one of the side walls of the frame 1, and a spring 112 of suitable strength engages at the lower end ina groove 113 formed in the rod 110 and is itself secured at the upper end to the upper end of a fixed upright 114- fast on the rear member of the frame of the machine.

I claim v 1. In a typewriter, a series of pivoted type levers, each carrying a number of printing characters in longitudinal series and movable to a vertical position for operation, a platen in the path of the printing characters on the type levers and vertically adjustable to bring it into operative relation to the different characters on the type levers, and means for effecting the vertical adjustment of the platen comprising a support for the same consisting of a triangular frame having vertical guide ways at its ends near the top on fixed portions of the frame of the machine, a single intermediate guideway near the bottom of the machine, a plurality of actuating keys for the frame, and connections therefrom to a single point on the triangular frame for moving the latter in a vertical direction.

2. In a typewriter, a platen movable in a vertical plane to a plurality of positions, and means for efiecting the vertical move- .inent of the platen comprising a support therefor movable with the platen, a rock shaft connected to said support, a key-controlled rock arm fast on said shaft, another ipeaosa platen and supporting frame therefor also vertically movable, a sliding lock member provided with a part movable into the path of the platen-supporting frame for limiting its vertical movement to an interme diate position, a rock shaft connected to said lock member, another rock shaft, a rock arm loose thereon and connected to the rock shaft carrying the lock member, another rock arm fast on the second. rock shaft and arranged in the path of the first named rock arm, and keys for operating the said rock arms.

4. In a typewriter, a vertically movable platen, a vertically movable support carrying the same, a lock for determining the extent of vertical movement of the platen, a key-actuated means for moving the frame and platen in a vertical direction, another key-actuated means for moving the lock into engagement with and limiting the vertical movement of the platen-supporting frame, and a yielding connection between the lock member and the key-actuated means therefor.

5. In a typewriter, a vertically adjustable platen, type levers each carrying a number of printing characters, and means for ad justing the laten'vertic'ally, said means including vert1cal side guides, an intermediate guide, m'a-Iis movableupwardly and downwardly with, the platen for engaging said guides, afpl'urality' of keys, and means for transmitting m'ot oIIi. from said keys to a single point movable vertically with the platen. I

In testimonythat I claim the'foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signa ture in the presence of two witnesses. JOHN E. MOLLE.

, Witnesses:

S. J MCMAHON, Y JOSEPHINE DONOHUE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the fiommilesioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. 

